HBO executives made news on hit shows Game of Thrones, True Detective and others both new and soon-to-be former. Notes from the pay-cable network's portion of the Television Critics Association tour:

True Detective, nominated Thursday as best drama and for stars Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, will return next year with a new cast and story line. HBO next week expects to lock in an actor for one of three main roles. Still, programming president Michael Lombardo believes the show's success does not depend on star casting: "Maybe people came in initially because they saw Matthew and Woody but I think they stayed because the show was really compelling."

Game of Thrones has been picked up for two more seasons, and will almost certainly continue for at least one year beyond that. The show is now expanding beyond the books already published by George R.R. Martin, but HBO says there's no truth to rumors that a movie is in the works.

HBO will film two Paris concerts on Beyoncé and Jay Z's On the Run tour Sept. 12 and 13 and will air an edited concert, featuring "more than 40 songs," later in September.

With True Blood, Boardwalk Empire and The Newsroom ending their runs this year, the network is replenishing its ranks. On tap for next year are Westworld, a remake of the futuristic 1973 Yul Brynner movie from J.J. Abrams and Jonathan Nolan (The Dark Knight), and Utopia, a remake of a British conspiracy thriller from David Fincher (House of Cards) and written by Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl).

Boardwalk begins its fifth and final season Sept. 7; Newsroom is expected in late fall.

Lombardo says he saw Curb Your Enthusiasm (and Seinfeld) creator Larry David recently and asked if he should mentally rule out future seasons of the cult hit comedy. "No, no, no, no," he says David replied. "As long as he keeps thinking about it, we have a place for it."

HBO has tapped Mike Nichols to direct Meryl Streep in an adaptation of Terrence McNally's Master Class, which begins shooting in early 2015. And Queen Latifah stars as blues singer Bessie Smith in Bessie, a film now shooting and due early next year.